


The Future is Claire

by PaddieCake



Series: Cold and Cruel, Self-Absorbed and Narcissistic [8]
Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Baby Fluff, Baby bonding, Claire and Patrick isn't a relationship tag?, Fluff, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-28
Updated: 2020-10-09
Packaged: 2021-03-08 03:42:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 8,782
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26619139
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PaddieCake/pseuds/PaddieCake
Summary: An excuse to have punny titles.Also Allison has a baby, and the Hargreeves-Baker clan adjust to a new life with her, I guess.
Relationships: Allison Hargreeves & Klaus Hargreeves, Allison Hargreeves & Patrick, Claire & Allison Hargreeves, Claire & Klaus Hargreeves, Claire & Patrick, Klaus Hargreeves & Patrick
Series: Cold and Cruel, Self-Absorbed and Narcissistic [8]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1797274
Comments: 112
Kudos: 166





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This won't be crazy long, I don't think but I hope you enjoy <3

Not long after Klaus came back, Allison was finally able to get back to work on Love on Loan, officially titled _Love on Loan: Mutual Interest_ , which Allison loved.

The hype surrounding Vany's book had slowly begun to die down. She wasn't be bombarded with interview opportunities, and her home wasn't surrounded by the press constantly any more. Now it was just the handful of paparazzi that usually skulked around her property line. They were trying to get _something_ out of her to make the book popular again, trying to dig more into the Umbrella Academ, but it was manageable. She was pretty sure Klaus telekinetically pushing them away whenever they walked outside had something to do with it.

  
  


She wanted to just rumor them away, but she couldn't bring herself to do it even with assurance from Klaus that it was pretty justified. Even Patrick said he would understand, that she had the right to leave her home without being surrounded by cameras.

  
  


It was a month back into filming before Allison caved and rumored them to leave, one of them had run up from seemingly nowhere, startling her into rumoring him. Klaus joked that at least she hadn't punched him because he'd have probably sued. 

She knew she was never going to get rid of all of them, they were like cockroaches, coming back every time seemingly stronger than ever, but using her powers helped a bit.

  
  


Filming was going well, though as the weeks marches on she was starting to show more and more. They were able to hide it pretty well, but Allison wished she could do her own stunts. At least it would be a fun story to tell during interviews. She was proud to be able to do her own stunt work, so it bothered her that she couldn't. It was fun watching her stunt double work, though, and she was really impressed by her abilities, and Allison really liked hanging out with her.

Filming wrapped up in about two months, which gave her plenty of time to relax before she gave birth. She'd been getting more and more fatigued as her pregnancy reached its end. 

"I wish my powers worked on me." Allison said, laying on their couch, head resting in Patrick's lap."I wouldn't feel so tired."

"They don't?" Patrick asked, obviously never having thought about it.

"Not directly." Klaus called from the kitchen. He had offered to help cook for them. Allison was appreciative, but she knew he was just trying to keep his mind busy. While Sasha and Maddie had done an incredible job keeping things running while he was relapsing, and then in rehab, he was struggling to hire new employees, and some of his clients were still shy about working with him. He was rebuilding pretty well, though.

"Huh… have you tried recently?"

"I tried to rumor my back not to hurt, didn't work." Allison confirmed with a sigh.

Klaus snorted, and Patrick ran his fingers through her hair in comfort.

"Will you be ok for the baby shower tomorrow?" Patrick asked.

Allison groaned dramatically.

The party was being hosted by Victoria in her own home. It was pretty small, no big party like her wedding, just friends, Klaus, and Patrick. Allison didn't really care about it one way or another, but she, Gemma, and Amelia insisted.

At least Allison could get amusement out of Klaus and Victoria snarking at each other. The truce they had during the wedding, and which had been silently reinstated when Klaus had first gotten out of rehab was completely gone now. There was about a year's worth of insulting they were catching up on, and Allison's favorites by far were Klaus calling Victoria a cheap knock off of _himself_ , and Victoria referring to Klaus as 'rat boy' consistently throughout the party after witnessing him "eat the entire cheese platter in seconds", though there was no actual proof of that happening. 

Patrick seemed pretty upset by the insults they casually hurled at each other, but he'd also grown rather protective of Klaus.

"If it really bothered him he wouldn't be joking back." Allison assured, squeezing his arm gently. "It's a weird game they have, don't worry too much. Klaus knows he can come to us if it's too much."

"I guess, I just don't want her to cross a line."

Allison could understand that, but she also knew that Klaus would come to them if something Victoria said was really bothering him. The party was nice, and Allison got a _lot_ of baby supplies she didn't _really_ need, having purchased most of them herself, but she appreciated nonetheless. The stroller Amelia had bought for her, one meant to adjust as the baby grew, was far nicer than the simple black pram Allison had bought for practicality. It even detached to act as a car seat.

She also received a lot of clothes for the baby, onesies in just about every color imaginable, most were simple onesies, with cute animals or plain, but then she also received a few incredibly fancy outfits for when the baby was a bit older. One was a tiny three piece suit, the other a fluffy two piece dress that Allison kind of wanted to wear herself. Allison could never imagine a baby needing either outfit she never intended on taking her baby to award shows until they were old enough to ask, but were so ridiculously cute she knew without even looking at Klaus that he was already trying to piece together a new outfit from the various clothes.

She was tired by the end of the night, and Patrick and Klaus were kind enough to bring the baby's new things in.

The weeks following found the three of them painting the nursery. Allison and Patrick did the basic base coat, while Klaus offered to paint the walls with various sea life, creating a cute, pastel, underwater world for the nursery. Even Allison and Patrick added in some fish and other small creatures to the mural. There was still plenty of space for the baby to add their own fish when they were able to.

And then, on the 17th of June, 2015, at precisely 12AM, Claire Hargreeves-Baker was born.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The third a Love on Loan is called "Love on Loan: Bonded" and you can rip these punny titles from my cold dead hands. I've decided the third one is a bank heist that turns out to just be an elaborate proposal.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Claire is like... four-ish months old.

Between getting back from rehab, and settling back into life he'd made sure to promote Maddie to supervisor, and he had promoted Sasha to assistant supervisor as well. The two of them worked incredibly well together, and while Sasha only knew makeup from what she picked up from watching them, she was incredibly organized and quick thinking Her job wasn't changing much, though she did get a raise, and Klaus agreed to stop asking her to get him coffees. It was a small sacrifice he supposed, though his telekinesis really hated doing small, more delicate tasks so he still had to pur in his own sugar and milk. Maddie's job didn't change much either, but she was officially his second in command, and she had more power to make decisions. 

The newest and most important job change was Klaus' new job as the  _ best _ uncle ever. He was getting a plaque made and everything. 

He was just barely managing to only show off pictures of his niece  _ twice _ a week instead of having perpetual slideshows of Claire flashing everywhere at every time. Yes he knew it was incredibly obnoxious to be the kind of person who had to brag about their kid constantly, especially since she wasn't even his to _begin_ with, but he couldn't help it. She was a drooly, hungry lump of flesh and he loved every inch of her. 

Except for right now. Klaus had just sat back down having gotten Claire to settle down. So he thought, but she started whining again so Klaus went to pick her up again.

He still loved her  _ very _ much, of course he did. But she was teething and she wouldn't stop crying. He also messed up by forgetting to refreeze her teething toys so, really, it was his own fault 

It didn't help that he had a nanny from the 19th century giving him  _ very _ outdated advice on how to deal with her. Even Klaus hadn't started that young. 

Ben didn't appreciate the joke when he said it, and  was now trying to explain to her that cough medicine wasn't something they could just give a baby to soothe her gums. It was pretty fascinating to watch the woman learn about the advancement of medicine. She was blown away by the revelation that morphine based cough syrup wasn't exactly healthy for  _ anyone, _ let alone a baby. 

But even if Claire was being particularly fussy he didn't mind watching her at all, especially since Patrick had finally gone back to work, and Allison would be going back soon, Klaus didn't mind giving them the chance to go out to just enjoy each other's company. Besides, it kept him home which worked for him. He still wasn't as busy as he'd been before, and quite frankly dating has been completely unappealing.

Every person he tried to go out with just didn't seem to fit right. He either didn't enjoy their company, or they seemed to want something from him he couldn't, or wouldn't, provide. The last date in particular had ended uncomfortably. She had ended up being a tabloid writer who was just using the date as an excuse to try and get information from him. Either about Allison, or himself, or Claire, it didn't seem to matter, but her asking after Claire is what set him over the edge. He got up to leave, and then she had tried to backtrack to ask about Vanya's book. Klaus had laughed at her and left the table, taking his half finished food with. Klaus may have gotten a short piece written about how he was a selfish date, but Klaus didn't really care. He got a really nice plate out of the deal at least.

Klaus had just decided he was much happier to sit at home with Claire, even if she was crying  _ again _ . 

Klaus let out a huff, running a hand through his hair as he checked to see if her toys were cold enough.

They weren't, but managed to get her to settle down with a plastic ring to chew on.

And that was how Allison and Patrick came back home, to a mildly frazzled looking Klaus rocking with Claire back and forth as she teethed.

"Has she been crying this whole time?" Allison asked, noticing that Claire's face was still a bit red. She took Claire from Klaus, cooing softly at the baby. Klaus frowned, noticing a sadness to her face, and he glanced over at Patrick, their eyes met and he flicked his eyebrows up, giving Klaus a sad smile.

"No, no. I was able to get her to calm down. I just thought I had gotten her settled and only just put her teething toys back in the freezer when she started crying again." Klaus assured her. "Miss Delecourt was pretty useless in helping me calm her down, though. We should really fire her."

Allison snorted "She's still hanging around?"

"Yeah, she has a lot of very interesting advice. I almost considered using the gin." Klaus said lightly, tickling Claire's tummy, smiling as she giggled in response.

"You are  _ not _ rubbing gin on my baby's gums." Patrick said looking offended. 

_ Klaus  _ was offended by the reaction.

"I meant for  _ me _ !" 

And as the mild horror settled into their eyes, Klaus cackled. He appreciated the concern, really, but Klaus always had, and always would, prefer to joke about this sort of thing. And he _really_ thought they should know this by now. "I'm kidding! I meant for the baby."

Patrick pushed his head down, giving him a surprisingly painful noogie, one that Allison joined in on, but Klaus was just glad they didn't look so serious anymore.

"I mean she really did suggest it, but I'm not a  _ monster _ ." Klaus said, swatting Patrick's hand away from him. 

Allison nodded, walking Claire to her room.

"You haven't watched the news at all, have you?" Patrick asked softly, placing a hand on Klaus' shoulder.

Klaus shook his head, not liking the tone of his voice. He settled for fiddling with Patrick's shirt sleeve absently. "No, why, did something happen? Is... it serious, or?"

Ben came over, pulling away from the conversation with Miss Delecourt to listen to the conversation.

"Luther was sent to a mission on the moon. We found out on the way back." He said softly. 

Klaus blinked back in shock. "W-well he always did want to go to space..." Klaus said. He gave a small clap "This is good, good ol' Luther living his dream!"

"Wait, really? Luther  _ always _ wanted to go into space. Maybe he's just been training this whole time." Ben suggested.

"Eh, maybe." Then again it wouldn't surprise Klaus if Pogo had just said he would tell Luther to call him back to placate him, and just not say anything. 

Patrick glanced at them, well at Klaus, he couldn't see Ben.

"Uh, Ben thinks astronaut training is why he didn't come to the wedding." Klaus said with a shrug.

Patrick let out a hum, nodding "Maybe... I'm going to go make sure Allison is alright. Thanks again for watching Claire." He added, squeezing Klaus' shoulder. 

Klaus popped into the nursery to say goodnight to Allison and Claire. He managed to get Allison to laugh as he struggled to keep afloat and open the window enough to hear her, before going back to his own place to settle down for the night.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Claire is roughly nine/ten months.

The news that Luther had gone into space, to the moon, had shocked her, but Allison hoped that it was the last of the big news that her family seemed to dredge up. She  _ was _ happy for him, it was his dream to go to space, but it was still sad in a way. Luther had been such a good friend and brother for long, and to know he wasn't even on the planet anymore was upsetting. Then again, Luther never made the effort to reach out, and he couldn't even be bothered to send her a letter about the wedding, so she supposed she could let it go. 

There was a minor stir where people had started asking her questions about her family again, but it died down quickly. They were more interested in hearing about Claire, but Allison was being careful to keep her out of any spotlight. She only answered vaguely when people asked about her in interviews.

She had started working again, doing a few guest spots on television so she wasn't swamped with work, but she knew they were already starting planning the third movie in the  _ Love on Loan _ trilogy, though that was still months away. 

"Right? Mommy's going to be doing another movie soon!" Allison said excitedly, as Claire's hands grasped Allison's, bouncing up and down a little on her chubby legs. She hadn't taken any steps yet, and it was a competition to see who she would walk to first. Klaus had tried to cheat by floating Claire to him, but the baby's giggling and the fact that her legs weren't moving gave it away. 

Ben was, apparently, very hopeful that it would he him since he could easily step in front of anyone and claim victory based on a technicality. Klaus and Allison had agreed that Ben would never win by default because of the unfair advantage.

Claire babbled in a mimicry of Allison's excitement, and though Allison knew she wasn't forming words  _ just _ yet it was still exciting to hear her vocalizing with more intent. "Yes, exactly." She cooed, kissing Claire's nose. Claire let go of her hands and almost immediately plopped to the floor. "Are you ready for dinner? Want some nummy carrots?" Allison asked, laughing softly.

"I  _ love _ carrots, thank you." Klaus said, looking tired but happy as he just waltzed into her home. Allison would be more annoyed, but he seemed a bit burnt out, and she knew being with them made him feel better.

"You get nothing." Allison said, picking Claire up. "That's right, Uncle Klaus gets nothing." Allison said lightly.

"Cul!" 

"That's not your name, Klaus." 

She could practically feel Klaus deflate, but he followed them into the kitchen anyway. 

"She's definitely saying my name first." Klaus said with conviction. 

"She's just babbling! Yes." Allison couldn't help pitching her voice up for Claire.

"I love it when you talk baby to me." Klaus said, pretending to swoon. He helped her get Claire's food ready as Allison put her baby in her chair. 

"You're ridiculous." Allison said, preparing the baby's food alongside Klaus.

Thale next weekend Amelia, Gemma, and Victoria had come over to hang out with Allison and to see the baby. Claire  _ loved _ the attention. At one point she must have figured out that whenever she bounced in place she got them to laugh, because she kept bouncing or purposely plopping on her butt.

She wasn't wrong, it did work.

Claire stood up from her 'fall', using the nearest chair to get up. She looked around, eyes landing on Patrick. She bounced a little on her legs before making an attempt to walk. She fell at first, looking a little shocked. 

"You did so good, Claire!" Patrick cooed so she wouldn't get upset. Claire struggled a bit to stand up again, but she did. 

Everyone watched with silent excitement as Claire wobbled a bit, and then took the four steps between where she was, and Patrick, before he scooped her up, blowing a raspberry on her cheek. 

"You don't count,  _ Ben _ ." Klaus reprimanded, rolling his eyes.

"Ben counts." Allison said, prodding Klaus. 

"Not when it comes to first steps, Patrick won, _unfortunately_. You weren't even trying." Klaus huffed.

"Claire just likes Patrick more than you. Personally don't blame her." Victoria said airily.

Allison was so proud of Claire, and barely managed to put on a facade of disappointment Patrick won their stupid little game. "Wait, did my daughter just  _ walk through _ Ben?" Allison asked, feeling rather scandalized as the thought hit her.

Klaus shrugged.

Allison wasn't sure how exactly to feel about that, so instead she focused on being proud of her daughter for taking her first steps.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Claire around a year old.

"So… still not talking, huh?" Klaus said, narrowing his eyes. Klaus lowered himself to come face to face with Claire, who was staring at him with a mouth full of Cheerios.

She finished chewing her food, swallowed it, then babbled a bit.

"Yeah, that's what they all say." Klaus sighed, taking a spoonful of cereal from his own bowl. Claire was sitting in her high-chair, the table of which Klaus was sharing as he ate his own food as the television played music softly in the background.

Allison had a meeting that she had almost forgotten about, and had all but thrown Claire at him in her mad dash to get there in time. Klaus was taking the opportunity to get Claire to talk. She'd come _very_ close but everyone agreed that she hadn't actually said anything. "'Klaus'. Very easy, just say 'Klaus'." He said, staring at her very intently. "Cl-owse."

She held up a handful of Cheerios up for him. 

"More like 'Cl-own'." Ben retorted. He was stting on the back of the couch reading. He was also being a snarky bastard.

"Thank you for the _cereal._ " Klaus said, letting Claire dump her mushy cereal into his hand, not sure what else he could do about it. He had been emphasizing words as he said them to help her associate them with whatever he was talking about. "Ben, shut up." Klaus added, looking around vaguely before just dumping the cereal into his own bowl. Klaus was aware that he'd probably end up eating it, too.

"Shut Ben!" 

Klaus stared at Ben, hand still holding the cereal. Ben looked absolutely stunned, closing his book and standing up.

"Yeah, I was talking to Uncle Ben." Klaus agreed. "I _did_ tell him to shut up ("Don't teach her _that_ part!")!"

"Shut Ben!" Claire said again, clapping. 

"Stop corrupting our niece! Holy crap, she said my name!" Ben said excitedly, standing next to Claire and watching her. "Ben! Ben. Ben." He chanted.

Claire stared at Klaus, motioning for his face. "Ben!"

"How _could_ you! I'm _Klaus_. Not Ben. Ben is a _weenie_." 

"Shut!" 

Ben doubled over and cackled. "She just told you to shut up! This is the best thing ever!"

Klaus pouted, and Claire patted his face with her sticky hand. "You insult me then console me with messy sticky milk hands? You're a _monster_!" Klaus said, taking Claire out of her chair before peppering her face with kisses.

"Shut!"

"Never!" Klaus declared before taking her to the sink to wash her off. Claire giggled at his theatrics, though got a bit fussy as he cleaned her face and hands off.

When Allison came back Klaus was sitting in front of Claire, chatting with her absently. 

He waved at her, picking his niece up to greet her mom.

"How was she?"

"Oh, lovely as always, right Claire?" Klaus asked, trying not to smirk.

"Shut Ben!" 

Allison's eyes went wide as she stared at Klaus, who was vibrating with excitement.

"She said Ben's name!"

"More importantly she can help me tell Ben to shut up!"

Allison smacked his arm gently. "You learned your Uncle Ben's name, did you?" She added, looking to Claire.

"Ben." Claire said affirmatively, looking very serious.

"How did Ben take it?" Allison asked, taking Claire in her arms, bouncing her gently.

"He's thrilled." Klaus said as sardonically as he could manage. He turned around to watch Ben do another lap around the living room, dancing excitedly. He had been chanting 'She said my name!' on and off since the incident, and if Klaus could he would smack him around the head for driving him insane. "Even _though_ she was telling him to shut up."

"Why couldn't it be mommy, huh?"

Claire shook her head.

"Ben is easier to say." Allison agreed, giving her daughter a shrug. "Oh, so _Love on Loan: Bonded_ is a go, but Billy wants you to reprise your role from the first movie."

Klaus was stunned. He had about five minutes of screen time in the original movie, hadn't appeared at all except as a voice cameo, played by someone else _entirely_ (which he really hadn't minded), and now he was expected to show up again? Klaus groaned loudly. "Fine."

"Yey!" Allison said softly, noticing Claire was getting sleepy. 

"She did have a nap earlier, but-"

"You're chaos incarnate, it's fine." 

Klaus nodded, knowing it was the truth. He was quite glad Allison understood the situation. "Enough already, Christ!" Klaus said, pulling his sock off and throwing it through Ben. 

Ben looked absolutely horrified.

"Oh my God you just threw a sock at Ben. I think it's time for us to go home?" Allison said, and Claire nodded sleepily.

Klaus gave Claire a kiss on the top of her head, and gave Allison a hug. He turned around, cracking his spine loudly before floating off to take a nap of his own.

"I will haunt your ass for hours, enjoy being exhausted." Ben said. 

"Threaten me with something I _haven't_ been dealing with for years." Klaus said, throwing his other sock at Ben, even though he knew he would be annoyed when he couldn't find them in a few days time.

Ben sighed "At least put a show on for me?" He asked, looking at the screen only displaying the name and singer of whatever music was playing.

Klaus obliged, stopping to do just that. "It's even the movie channel!"

Ben's eyes lit up excitedly as he settled down on the couch, and Klaus went to take his nap.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The angst portion, sorry, it just came to me.
> 
> Or: Allison and Klaus react poorly to timeouts.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> CW: Vague-ish discussions of child abuse but no actual child abuse.
> 
> The rest of this fic is going to be fluff, but the idea wouldn't leave my head xD.

"You can't do that to her!" Klaus hissed, and Allison, though she agreed, was trying to keep Klaus from jumping Patrick.

"It's two minutes, she's in her room, she's  _ fine _ ." Patrick said, trying to be as calm as possible. 

"But you could just  _ explain _ what she did, you don't have to lock her in her room." Allison pointed out, gripping Klaus' arm tightly. 

"You tried explaining to her, remember? When she calms down we'll talk to her. And she isn't locked in there, it's just closed."

Allison huffed. Claire had thrown a tantrum, upset she couldn't go to an awards ceremony where  _ Love on Loan _ was nominated for a movie of the year award with her and Klaus. Allison had spent ten minutes trying to talk to her and calm her down and she wouldn't stop before Patrick swooped in to sit her on a chair in her room. Alone. For two minutes. 

Saying it like that, Allison knew it wasn't really that bad, probably perfectly normal, but she still  _ hated _ it. Claire had screamed the entire time, upset from her initial tantrum, and then for being punished. It was hard to watch.

Klaus had definitely not taken it kindly, and he was the only reason Allison hadn't charged into Claire's room. The very real threat of Klaus attacking Patrick needed to be stopped, and seeing her uncle and father fighting would be  _ much _ worse for Claire than being stuck in her room for a couple of minutes.

Patrick sighed before checking his watch. He turned around and walked back to Claire's room. There was muffled talking from the room. 

"You need to calm down." Allison said gently, rubbing his arm. "I  _ know _ , okay? I know, but it  _ is  _ just her room." Her voice was shaking. Patrick was a good person, but scolding Claire the way he had just set all of her alarms off, even if a part of her knew that it was completely normal. 

"Right, right because there's  _ no way _ that having negative associations with a place can negatively impact a person!" He hissed. He turned around to face Ben, staring at him incredulously. "I do  _ not _ care about grammar right now." 

Allison snapped her fingers at Klaus "Focus here. I  _ know _ , I don't like it either, but I don't want you to  _ hurt  _ him." Allison said. 

"What if he hurts her?"

Allison scoffed, Patrick would  _ never _ hurt Claire. But she couldn't help let the worry sink in. "He wouldn't." She said, more to herself than Klaus. "Ok. We… I'll talk to him,  _ we'll  _ talk to him. But fighting him won't help.

Klaus took a deep breath. "It just makes me so angry that he thinks locking her in her room is ok." Klaus' voice was gaining volume. 

"I heard a rumor that that calmed down." Allison said, and she could feel the tension in Klaus' body release itself. His face was no longer contorted in anger, but more relaxed. Her stomach twisted itself into a knot. "I'm sorry!" She said quickly, Klaus blinking at her with mild confusion.

"You know, I still feel angry?" He said, rubbing her arm gently as he realized what happened. 

"Well I was trying to be less invasive with it in my intention." She admitted. She stilled at the sound of running footsteps, and felt something collide with her legs.

"Sorry mommy." Claire said, gripping at the skirt of her dress. She still looked a bit upset, but she seemed fine otherwise.

Klaus knelt down, and Claire came running to him in a tackling hug "Sorry Uncle Klaus."

"It's ok, Claire Bear." He said, kissing the top of her head. He was looking at her face, and Claire took the opportunity to squish Klaus' cheeks with her hands. Allison could tell he was just trying to make sure she wasn't more upset than she let on.

"Thank you, Claire." Patrick said as she toddler back to him "Say bye-bye to mommy and uncle Klaus now, they'll be back later."

Claire waved at them happily, but as Allison left home with Klaus, an uneasy feeling in the pit of her stomach.

The excitement of the ceremony, and even the win for the movie didn't settle the discomfort. 

So once they washed the makeup away, and changed into more comfortable clothes, Patrick, Allison, and Klaus sat down in Klaus' living room so as not to wake up Claire. Ben was keeping an eye on her for them. 

"I just don't see the  _ point _ . She's just acting like a kid, you don't need to punish her for it!" Klaus said, curled up in his chair as best as his lanky limbs would let him.

"She wasn't being punished for behaving that way, I just got her out of the situation long enough for her to calm down and explain the situation. But kids  _ need _ discipline."

"But there's a better way than keeping her locked in her room." Allison argued.

"She wasn't _locked_ _in_. She was just in her room." Patrick said for what felt like the millionth time. He was getting frustrated, Allison and Klaus were too. It felt like they were just going around in circles trying to explain why they didn't want to punish Claire for things that just came naturally to kids. 

Mostly it was because Patrick was not understanding how important it was for Claire to feel  _ safe _ . 

"But Claire shouldn't be put in there for punishment." Allison said. 

"What do you suggest then?"

Klaus shrugged, mumbling something about how dad usually made them train during their free time as punishment. Allison remembered it was supposed to redirect their 'obnoxious energy' into 'something more productive'. 

Of course they rarely knew what  _ exactly _ they did wrong, except that one time Diego and Five had broken a vase playing tag. Five had blinked into it, it was kind of funny until dad had shown up.

Of course Klaus' training would have been in the mausoleum, or something similar, trapped inside with no way to get out. Klaus seemed to be really struggling with how to make this clearer for Patrick.

Patrick leaned back, something shifted in his face, and he looked like he'd realized something. Allison really hoped he was going to see things their way. 

"So what if we give her a timeout spot outside of her room, she still only gets it for a minute or two until she calms down." Patrick suggested.

Allison thought it was a good compromise at least. She just hated the idea that they should have to discipline her at all. Kids acted up sometimes, it was  _ normal _ . When she said this Patrick took her hands and squeezed them. 

" _ Because  _ it's how you teach them. Sometimes they make their own mistakes and learn from them, but sometimes you have to guide them in the right direction. That's all we're doing. Teaching her that she can't get what she wants just by screaming and crying, and that sometimes she just  _ can't  _ get what she wants."

Allison gripped Patrick's hands tightly, and the aggravated way Klaus had been fidgeting stopped. 

"I think that could work…" Allison said, since she only recently started realizing that herself, she could prevent Claire from being like her, and teach her boundaries Allison had to figure out on her own long after she should have.

Patrick turned to Klaus, who was sitting there chewing on his lip. "Ok… that's… It's just sitting on a chair anyway." Klaus said trying to be flippant and missing by a mile.

"It's not going to be like dad…" she said softly. "I wouldn't let that happen, you know that."

"I wouldn't either. It's just a way to get her to calm down enough for us to talk to her, that's all it is. You saw that." Patrick added leaning forward. "I didn't mean to trigger anything, and I'm  _ really _ sorry. It was how we were disciplined as kids, and it never occurred to me that it would bother you so much, and I should have."

Klaus took a shaky breath, nodding a bit. 

"Ok… that's better." Klaus said, shaking a bit. Allison pulled one of her hands from Patrick and reached over and gripped Klaus' tightly. "I'm sorry too, I just…"

"You were scared for her. If the roles were reversed I probably would have been too. It's ok, really it is." 

Allison sighed, resting her head on Patrick's shoulders and feeling exhausted. She felt Patrick shift underneath her, and then Klaus was with them, hugging Patrick and Allison tightly. 


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Claire's third birthday!
> 
> Or the one where I project my love for triceratops on Claire.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Back to fluff!

"Happy happy birthday! Happy happy birthday!" Klaus and Ben chanted, Claire giggling excitedly on his back. 

"That's not how it goes!" She said. 

"I don't know, uncle Ben says it is." Klaus said.

"No, I didn't. Stop blaming me!" Ben said.

Claire puffed out her cheeks. " _No_."

"What? No, he has to be right." Klaus said, barely holding back his laughter as Claire sighed with fake frustration, Ben's was much more genuine.

"You're silly." 

  
  


He had been tasked with hanging streamers, but since his telekinesis didn't like the delicate task of carefully pinning them to walls, Klaus instead was floating around doing it himself, and Claire was just coming along for the ride, and being _extremely_ bossy about where everything should go.

"Down! Down! Mommy's coming." Claire said, giggling as she patted his shoulder rapidly. 

Klaus 'wasn't allowed' to fly around with Claire on his shoulders the same way he 'wasn't allowed' to give her an excess amount of candy when he babysat her. 

He'd made sure both were ok with Allison and Patrick when they had come up, in private, and Claire got to have fun thinking they shared a 'super special secret' just between them. It also meant he was allowed to spoil his niece without getting in trouble.

Claire was already giggling as Allison came back in carrying a cake.

Klaus snorted as she narrowed her eyes, looking between Claire still on his shoulders, and Klaus whose feet had only just hit the floor.

Claire was giggling uncontrollably. 

"You weren't floating, were you?"

Klaus shook his head, biting back a smile. 

"No, mommy!" Claire agreed, still giggling. 

"Hmmm… Oh really?" Allison

"I swear." Klaus said, holding a hand to his heart, the other in front of him in a placating gesture.

"Well, if you _were_ floating, which you weren't?"

Klaus nodded, trying not to laugh.

"Well I _suppose_ it's ok since it's your birthday." Allison agreed, winking up at Claire. 

Claire let out an excited gasp "Really?"

"Just for today, don't get any ideas." She said, eyeing Claire before smirking at Klaus.

Klaus made sure Allison turned around to put the cake away before looking up at Claire and giving her an exaggerated wink. "Alright then, Captain, what next."

"B'loons!" 

"Do we have balloons?" Klaus asked.

"Patrick's bringing them in, oh I was supposed to ask you to help him!" Allison said, eyes wide. 

"Let's go help daddy." Claire said with a stern nod.

"I wonder if he got that unicorn balloon." Klaus said absently. 

"Dinosaurs, not unicorns!" Claire said.

"You mean the one _you_ saw and wanted?" Ben asked.

Klaus shrugged, he knew what he wanted.

"Dinosaur!" Claire said, scrambling to get down. There was Patrick carrying a handful of dinosaur balloons, with more in the car.

Claire had gotten a book about dinosaurs as an early present from an anonymous source Klaus _suspected_ was Diego, (judging by the lack of note and the haphazardous way the box was taped together), and Claire was obsessed with them now. The party wasn't really _themed_ after dinosaurs, they just got the balloons, really, but Klaus was still disappointed that it wasn't princess themed. The supplies he saw were _really_ cute.

"You can hold the triceratops!" Patrick said, holding the balloon out to Claire. "Hold it tightly, triceratops can't fly." Patrick said.

Claire nodded very seriously, gripping the balloon tightly. Klaus was careful as he opened the car door and pulled out the rest of the balloons. They were all pastel, and the dinosaurs were cutesy, and Claire seemed to light up when she saw them. 

Klaus thought they were _ok._

The three of them hauled in the over abundance of balloons into the house to finish decorating before the guests arrived.

Claire had a blast playing with her friends from daycare, and her older cousins from Patrick's side of the family. There was a lot of running around, the kids playing tag, and hide and seek. Klaus thought their version was incredibly tame without Five jumping in front of you so he could be 'it', or Luther body slamming people to tag them.

Apparently they just tapped each other on the arm, or occasionally got a little too excited and pushed them, for which the pusher would be reprimanded. Klaus and Allison were better at realizing what was a normal amount of reprimand or scolding, and Klaus was glad to say that the instances he saw were perfectly typical.

After they had gotten some play time in they all ate lunch and then opened presents.

There were a lot of dress up dolls, and baby dolls, and stuffed animals that Claire was really excited for, and Klaus was maybe a little jealous they never got things like that as kids. Allison looked up at him and she seemed to think the same thing. She gave him a shrug which he returned.

Patrick and Allison had gotten her a backyard playground set with swings and a slide, and a few other toys that could be used to play with outside. The other kids all oohed and ahhed at the playset.

Klaus had put together a personalized coloring book, with the four of them in various situations; pirates, royalty, and a last minute edition of them riding dinosaurs. Klaus was pretty sure Allison and Patrick liked the coloring book more than Claire did, but at least the toddler _really_ loved the 120 pack of Crayola crayons so he counted it as a win.

Then dessert, which was cake and ice cream, which Klaus was more than happy to indulge in.

As the night wound down and everyone began filtering out, Klaus got stuck on clean up duty, and he since he wasn't keen on using his powers around people he barely knew, had to do it by hand.

It wasn't too bad until Carlos' mom started 'helping' him, and by 'helping' he meant unsubtly flirting with him. It got _much_ weirder when her husband joined in and, while flattered, he politely declined, feeling just a little weird about the whole thing.

It didn't stop Klaus from turning around to immediately tell Allison about it.

Apparently they had tried to do the same with both her and Patrick, and Klaus felt absolutely _betrayed_ they had never brought up the weird swinging couple they knew.

"It's not that I'm _opposed_ to it, but it's not the time or place." Klaus muttered, waving the last of the guests off.

"Of course you'd consider it." Allison said with a snort.

Allison locked up for the night, and lowered herself onto the couch next to Patrick, Claire sleeping peacefully on his chest. Klaus took the chair and almost immediately exhaustion took over.

Klaus barely managed to get his shoes off before he fell asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Everyone decided that Five was never allowed to be 'it' because he ended the game too quickly, but then Five found the loophole of just scaring the heck out of them and "getting tagged" by tagging them and making himself it. 
> 
> Diego is also not allowed to be 'it' because he threw objects at the others, and it took them ten minutes to agree on whether or not it counted on multiple occasions.
> 
> On occasion Five and Diego managed to work together and ruin the game for everyone out of spite.
> 
> Luther just gets over excited like a puppy and tackles people, and Ben is the best at avoiding being 'it' because he pretends to be sad, and Luther stops it from happening.
> 
> Hide and seek is more chaotic and was banned in 1998 by the collective agreement of the siblings. Reginald was, once again, disappointed because he considered it training, and now had to incorporate it himself. 
> 
> This is my new early morning headcanon. It will not ever be taken away from me.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One more chapter after this. 
> 
> I'll be starting the next part soon, and I've been encouraged to add a few non-essential one-shots to this thing, and I've got a couple of ideas on that, so yey!

Allison smiled as Claire's eyes lit up as the story came to an end. She cheered excitedly at the happy ending. 

This was the second or third time Claire had asked for  _ this _ specific story. For some reason it was her favorite, but Allison couldn't figure out why.

  
  


Allison had started telling her kid-friendly versions of some of the missions they'd go on. She had to edit a lot of them down to be less horrifying once she realized her daughter  _ really _ shouldn't hear about how much danger her mother and uncle were in constantly. It was something she hadn't even realized was the case until Patrick pointed out that being trapped in a  _ really _ bad hostage situation in which half the team needed to be treated for gunshot wounds wasn't ideal children's entertainment. 

Klaus suggested one of their earlier missions, a museum robbery, it was the perfect mission. No injuries, no casualties, everything has been returned, no scolding during the debriefing, and Grace had even given them ice cream afterwards.

Maybe  _ that  _ was why it was Claire's favorite, no horrifying memories of the whole thing in retrospect.

"Now tell me the one about the Eiffel Tower!" Claire asked excitedly.

Allison raised an eyebrow. "No, Claire, it's past your bedtime. And we don't ask for things that way, you know that."

" _ Please _ ." She whined, with just a hint of annoyance. Claire was trying to test the waters more and more, and while Allison could appreciate tenacity it didn't mean she liked it being used against  _ herself. _

"No, Claire. It's time to lay down for bed." Allison said getting up.

"But I'm not tired!"

Allison would  _ very _ much beg to differ, Claire didn't usually whine so much when she wasn't tired. "No, Claire. Goodnight."

  
  


"I  _ want one _ ."

Allison blamed the Carlsons, their daughter was a brat and was clearly rubbing off on Claire.

"Claire, mommy's saying it's bedtime." She said sternly.

Claire's face screwed up, about to cry. Allison still had trouble thinking quickly in these situations. It was hard getting a toddler to listen, and while Claire was really good most of the time, Allison didn't want to hurt her in  _ any _ way. 

Allison took on a gentler tone, going to sit down on the bed again in an attempt to calm Claire down. "Go lay down, sweetie." Allison couldn't leave her daughter alone while she was upset like this. "How about I sit with you until you fall asleep."

"And a story?"

" _ No _ Claire." Allison said, closing her eyes.

"I'm telling daddy you're being mean!" Claire said puffing out her cheeks and getting out of bed. 

Allison felt her heart clench. She wasn't  _ trying _ to be mean. She just wanted Claire to go to bed. At this point it was already so much past her bed time Allison didn't think another story would hurt.

She almost obliged when Patrick walked in.

"What's wrong?" Patrick asked, placing a hand on the small of her back.

"Nothing, I'm just trying to get Claire to go to sleep." 

" _ I _ want another story." 

Allison could see the frustration on Claire's face, and could feel her own bubbling up.

"Mommy said that it's bedtime, I'm  _ also _ saying it's bedtime. So go lay down and try to sleep, Claire." Patrick said sternly.

Claire shook her head.

"You can either lay down and go to sleep or sit in your time out chair." Patrick said calmly. "But you don't get another story."

Allison didn't see the point of that, it would only keep Claire up longer, but she was also still learning the balance of when to give her timeouts. 

Claire sighed very loudly, stomping to her bed. "I'm  _ very _ angry." Claire said, crossing her arms.

"That's ok." Patrick said.

Claire pulled her blanket up to her chin, and wriggled down to get comfortable. In five minutes Claire was fast asleep.

Allison sighed, hiding her face in Patrick's chest. He led them out of Claire's room and closed the door with a soft click. 

"I  _ suck _ at this." Allison muttered.

"You're still learning, I just grew up with…"

"Parents who knew what the hell they were doing?"

Patrick chuckled, leading Allison to their room.

"She's going to hate me."

"She'll be fine come breakfast tomorrow, I promise." Patrick assured her.

Allison slept rather uneasily that night, but Patrick was right.

As Allison woke Claire up, her daughter looked up at her, with big sad brown eyes. 

"Mommy, I'm sorry I called you mean yesterday." Claire mumbled, burying her face into Allison's chest as she woke up the next morning. 

Allison hugged Claire tightly, kissing the top of her head. "I forgive you."

"Can we still have the Eiffel Tower story tonight?" Claire asked, eyes wide.

"Only the one, though."

Claire nodded, hugging her again tightly. They got Claire ready and downstairs for breakfast.

Patrick raised an eyebrow her, a very clear 'see, I told you so'. 

Allison snorted, bending over to kiss his cheek.

"Yeah, you did." She agreed, sitting down and resting her head in his shoulder. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Claire calls the kissing gross and then Allison and Patrick turn into kissy monsters.
> 
> I also almost had Claire 'run away' to Klaus' in the initial draft x3.


	8. Chapter 8

Today was a _very_ big and important day. Itwas important because it was when the movies mommy, daddy, and uncle Klaus worked on got awards! They were shiny and pretty, and Claire always wanted to go to one but she wasn't usually allowed to.

The last few awards uncle Klaus and her got dressed up and watched them at home.

But today she was allowed to go with them.

She had been _extra_ good even better than she had been for _Santa_ , and she asked very nicely, and was very polite, and they said _yes._

Uncle Klaus had been very silly and asked if she would be his date, and Claire said yes because he was her favorite uncle.

She felt bad about it but it was true. She didn't make the rules. Mommy and daddy did.

Uncle Ben was there all the time, but he was invisible so she couldn't see him. And she _loved_ hearing about Spaceboy who was on the _moon,_ which was almost as cool as dinosaurs. She wanted to ask him if there were space dinos but apparently mail men can't go into space.

Uncle Diego had given her her dinosaur book, and it was her favorite because it had 'From Uncle Diego' on the very last page in very tiny handwriting, and that meant it was special because no other book had that! When she had asked mommy what the writing said, because she couldn't figure it out, mommy cried, but they were happy so it was ok.

She didn't know auntie Vanya very well, but she played music and Claire thought that was _amazing_ , even if she didn't have cool powers like everyone else.

(Claire didn't have powers either and _she_ was awesome!)

But uncle Klaus was her _favorite_. He gave her candy when _ever_ she wanted, and hugged her when she was sad, and called her 'Claire-bear' even though she _told_ him she wasn't a bear, _and_ he let her play dress up with his clothes. So _of course_ she wanted to be his date! 

They had spent the last week going through _so_ many fancy clothes, and Claire found a really pretty dress, and it matched uncle Klaus' jacket, so it was _really_ cool because they both sparkled!

Right now she was sitting _very_ still so she could have makeup. Uncle Klaus was putting on 'eyeshadow' and the brushtickled more than the 'blush' had on her cheeks had.

"Why does it take more makeups for you and mommy?" Claire asked when uncle Klaus told her she could open her eyes.

"Because we're _really_ ugly without it, duh." He said bopping her nose. 

"No, you're _beautiful_ !" Claire said, tugging on his arm. He _had_ to know he was pretty!

"Oh, well if you say that then it must be true!" 

Claire smiled, very proud of herself. 

"But your face is so tiny if we put too much on you'll fall over."

He _looked_ serious but sometimes he looked serious when he _wasn't._ He was very good at pretend.

Claire huffed "No I _won't_!" She said.

Uncle Klaus' jaw dropped, and he put a hand on his chest and Claire rolled her eyes. "Are you saying I'm _lying_?"

Claire crossed her arms and puffed out her cheeks. She was not, but he had to he faking.

He sighed very loudly, and he looked like he was about to fall, but he just did that sometimes.

"Ok you got me, I was kidding." He said holding a hand up. "It's just not good for you to have so much on right now, so we only do a little bit. When you're a bit older we can play with it more, I promise." He said. 

Claire squinted at him, but he wasn't being silly anymore. "Ok." She said. 

"And for Halloween." He added with a wink, and Claire giggled, that meant it was a secret! She pressed a finger to her lips, and kicked excitedly. 

"Ok, strawberry or pineapple lip gloss?" Uncle Klaus asked, holding up two tubes of goopy looking stuff. 

"Strawberry!" Claire said. 

"Alright, that will look _beautiful_." 

The lip gloss was sticky, and Claire kept licking her lips because it tasted sweet.

"Maybe I should have gone with unflavored lip gloss." Her uncle said softly. 

  
  


"No! It tastes good." Claire said very seriously. 

"You're not supposed to eat it, bear… I _don't_ know what I was thinking."

"Uncle Ben?"

"Yes, he's being _terribly_ mean. Can you please try not to eat your lip gloss?" 

Claire nodded, pressing her lips together so she wouldn't keep licking them. 

Where uncle Klaus could see her.

"Ok, go get dressed!" Uncle Klaus said, helping Claire out of her chair. She immediately ran out of uncle Klaus' room to mommy who gasped loudly.

Claire giggled.

"Well, Klaus did a _great_ job." Mommy said, picking her up to kiss her face.

"No, cheek kiss! Uncle Klaus said so you don't ruin the makeups." And then she showed mommy how to do it _properly_. Where just their cheeks touch and they make kissy noises.

"Oh, yes. How silly of me." Mommy said, shaking her head. 

Claire nodded, it _was_ silly of her, but maybe only some people knew about cheek kisses. Claire was glad she could teach her mommy something for once!

They got dressed, and Claire swooshed around in her skirt, it sparkled in the light and she loved it. And then they went into a _limo_ which sounded like a macaroni but was a _really_ long car.

Like the spaghetti of cars.

Maybe it _was_ a macaroni.

And then she was stepping on The Red Carpet, which was very important. 

She heard some people calling her name, and though uncle Klaus was holding one hand tightly, she waved excitedly to the crowds with the other, smiling brightly. 

They stopped to get pictures taken, and uncle Klaus picked her up so she was sitting on his shoulders, and she could see out to everyone. 

Then they went inside. Claire didn't know what the awards were for, but she clapped loudly and excitedly when mommy got called up. 

Daddy also got called up, so Claire cheered excitedly again.

Uncle Klaus didn't win anything, but he stood up with some other people as their names were called by one of the other winners. He must have been a someone else in the same movie!

"Did your movie win?" Claire asked when he sat back down. 

He nodded "The lead actor one and he thanked us for it." 

"That is very nice." Claire said. 

"It is." He said, smiling at her. 

The ceremony ended and they got to leave, which was good because Claire was getting sleepy.

They got back to the carpet, but Claire asked if she could be carried, and uncle Klaus did since they were there together.

The camera peoplestarted asking questions, and Claire excitedly showed off the little shimmery bag she was carrying, because they were asking about clothes. Inside of it was her lip gloss and a candy wrapper. She had already eaten the candy. 

But then mommy's face got sad, and daddy looked worried. 

They were asking about a few-ner-al.

She glanced down at uncle Klaus. He looked worried too and it made Claire sad. 

"Uncle Klaus, what's happening?" She asked, trying not to ruin her makeup but she couldn't help but cry.

He kissed the top of her head. "Nothing Claire, everything's fine." But she knew he was lying.

Daddy came over with mommy, and he led them to the limo away from the crowds. Claire was still crying and really scared, and she probably ruined her makeup.

"Oh, no it's ok sweetie, we can fix your makeup if you want." Uncle Klaus said, rubbing her back.

"Come here sweetie." Mommy said, and Claire was moved to her lap. 

"W-w-why did they make you sad?" Claire asked.

"Becuase they're terrible people." Daddy said, looking angry. 

"It's very hard to explain right now, but I promise we will when we figure out how." Mommy said, rubbing her back. Uncle Klaus was still holding her hand.

Claire nodded, feeming very sleepy now. She didn't remember even going to bed, but the next morning mommy and uncle Klaus had packed some bags, saying they had to go for a few days.

They said they would call when they got back, and then they were gone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Annnnnnnd so the canon begins!
> 
> Thank you as always for the wonderful comments, and the kudos <3.


End file.
